By Jake Osborne | Credit Sense
The Problem No One Talks About: Lead Quality
You’ve invested heavily in paid media. Your cost per lead looks reasonable. The volume is flowing. But there’s a nagging issue: your leads just aren’t converting.
This is one of the most common—and costly—problems facing Australian lenders, brokers, and fintechs today. Google Ads, Meta (Facebook/Instagram), and other performance channels promise scale and fast access to leads, but often deliver leads with low intent, low eligibility, or no real financial need.
The result? Frustrated sales teams, inflated cost-per-funded-loan, overwhelmed credit teams, and shrinking margins.
Let’s unpack the challenge—and how you can fix it.
Why Performance Channels & Lead Vendors Often Produce Low-Quality Leads
Performance media platforms are powerful, but their default targeting systems weren’t designed for lending-specific needs. Here’s where things go wrong:
- Eligibility
Someone clicking “Apply Now” on a Google or Facebook ad might be curious, not creditworthy. Without upfront verification, you’re often working with unqualified borrowers who have no chance of approval. These typical SEM or Display ads attract customers who are desperate for any type of finance approval and typically require immediate access to funds, making their profile harder to approve due to an over reliance on short term credit options such as wage advance, BNPL or credit card. - Low-Friction = Low Commitment
Social media lead forms are fast and easy—but that’s the problem. Users can submit with a tap, often without understanding what they’re applying for. There is little consideration around whether or not they are ready to proceed, resulting in high drop-off rates when customers disengage with the light process they have begun. - Inaccurate or Incomplete Data
Whether it’s fake contact details or missing financial info, lead quality deteriorates when form fills aren’t verified or enriched with real financial data. We constantly hear from lenders, brokers, and fintechs about the high percentage of lead wastage because you simply can’t get hold of the customer. - Misaligned Targeting
Algorithmic ad targeting optimises for clicks and leads, not funded loans. Without ongoing feedback, you’re training the system to repeat the same poor results and even if you have a strong optimisation process, it is difficult to keep your optimisation relevant with changing credit policies and pricing.
What’s the Real Cost?
Let’s say you generate 1,000 leads at $20 each. That’s a $20,000 spend. But only 8% are eligible and convert into funded loans. Your effective cost per funded loan could be over $250.
That’s not scalable—and it doesn’t include the wasted time, credit bureau checks, bank statement pulls, ID verification cost, sales team burnout, and lost opportunities.
Smarter Solutions: Real-Time Filtering, Data-Driven Targeting
1. Filter Leads with Real-Time Financial Data
With Credit Sense, you can instantly verify income, expenses, and credit worthiness before contacting a lead. This lets you prioritise eligible, fundable customers—and avoid wasting time on people who don’t qualify.
2. Align Targeting with Real Buyer Intent
At Lead Market, our lead generation isn’t based on surface-level interest. Our partners have warm leads that have been qualified to meet your criteria and have provided bank statement consent upfront for a real chance at getting approved.
Filter Leads Using Bank Statement Data — Before You Pay
One of Lead Market’s most powerful innovations is its ability to integrate bank statement data directly into the lead journey.
Here’s how it works:
- Leads are required to upload bank data early (powered by Credit Sense).
- This data can be used to filter leads based on income, expense ratios, and serviceability before you contact them.
- You only buy or chase the leads that meet your criteria — reducing your cost per conversion dramatically.
No more wasting time on leads that don’t stack up.
BONUS: Monetise Leads You Can’t Convert
Not every lead will be right for your product. But that doesn’t mean it has to go to waste. In Australia and New Zealand, there is too much waste, resulting in poor customer experiences and let down borrowers.
With Lead Market’s integrated lead marketplace, you can:
- Resell non-converting leads to lenders, brokers, or services that may be a better fit.
- Maintain data privacy and compliance while turning cost sinks into revenue-generating assets.
- Tap into a nationwide ecosystem of buyers across personal loans and car loans.
This helps you recoup marketing costs, increase ROI, and reduce your effective cost per acquisition—even when a lead doesn’t convert.
What could this look like?
If you redirected 1,000 non converting leads to our market place, we can make the following assumptions;
- 75% completion rate allows for 750 leads to be put to market
- 35% buy rate from lenders
- Average purchase price of $25
- $6,562 in recouped marketing spend
The Bottom Line
Typical performance marketing channels can be great tools—but only when backed by smart lead generation, real-time data filtering, and a plan for what to do with leads that don’t qualify.
By combining Lead Market’s performance media and marketplace strategy with Credit Sense’s real-time financial verification, finance businesses across Australia are finally solving the conversion problem.
Get in touch with [email protected] or [email protected] to discuss how we can help you get more value from your acquisition budget.